Research on Elementary School Exchange and Collaborative Learning: Setting out the Active“ Cooperative and Collaborative” Learning in Subjects

これまで、交流及び共同学習の実施状況については、音楽、体育や行事、給食、清掃などが主であり、国語、算数等の教科学習での交流は少ない。教科の特性として系統的・理論的な学習内容であれば、日常的に交流を行いにくいためと考えられる。そこで本研究では、①どのように計画的な交流が行われたか、②どのように交流先の児童に障害のある児童の理解を促したか、③教科特性と合わせて学習内容がどう展開されたか、④共に学ぶことで教科のねらいに迫れているか、⑤相互のかかわりと双方の学習目標達成の両方を目指した活動を可能とするものは何か、の５つの観点から交流および共同学習の実践事例を分析し、現状と課題について考察した。その結果、ほとんどの事例が交流の側面のみに着目しており、共同学習の側面まで踏み込んで交流及び共同学習を取り扱っていなかった。今後は、学力のみならず、他者とのやりとりなどの社会的スキルに関する介入も同時に行う「協同学習」の側面を交流及び共同学習に取り入れ、学習場面におけるやりとりのスキルを向上させることで学習内容の習得をより促進させることができる可能性が高い。Until now, exchange activities and collaborative learning have been mainly implemented in music, physical education, school events, school lunch, cleaning, etc.; however, there are few exchanges activities and collaborative learning that has been implemented in core subjects such as Japanese language and mathematics. It is thought that if it is systematic and theoretical learning content as the characteristic of the subject, it is difficult to make exchange regularly. Therefore, in this research report, the following five components are investigated through research reviews: 1) how exchange activities and collaborative learning were planned, 2) how to encourage children in regular classrooms to understand children with disabilities, 3) how learning contents were developed by considering the characteristics of the subjects, 4) whether the goals and objectives of the subjects, units, or classes were achieved by students with and without disabilities learning together, 5) what makes it possible to engage in activities aiming at both mutual engagement and achievement of learning objectives from the viewpoint of exchange and collaborative learning. The authors analyzed the practices on exchange activities and collaborative learning and examined the present situation and issues. As a result, most cases focused only on the aspect of exchange and did not deal with exchanges and collaborative learning by stepping into the side of collaborative learning. In the future, not only academic achievement, but also intervention on social skills should be implemented at the same time. Incorporating aspects of“ cooperative learning” into exchange activities and collaborative learning, will enhance learning of students with and without disabilities by improving interaction skills in learning situations

Weight reduction by using a formula diet recovers menstruation in obese patients with an ovulatory disorder

Aim: To determine the effectiveness of a formula diet in weight reduction and the recovery of menstruation in obese patients with ovulatory disorders. Methods: After the enrollment of 39 obese women with ovulatory disorders, they replaced one or two of their three normal meals with a microdiet (MD) (240 kcal/meal) for 24 weeks. Physical, endocrinological, and biochemical tests were conducted before and at 12 and 24 weeks of the study. Of the 39 women enrolled, 26 were not taking clomiphene. They were divided into three groups according to their body weight outcomes and then analyzed for menstruation recovery. Results: A weight reduction of ≥5% was observed in 31 (81.5%) of the 39 women. There were significant decreases in the body weight and Body Mass Index during the study. Menstruation returned in 18 (69%) of the 26 patients without clomiphene treatment, with the recovery being significantly more prevalent in the groups (totally 81.0%) that exhibited a 5%‐10% weight reduction and ≥10% weight reduction, compared to the group with a <5% weight reduction. Conclusion: The use of a formula diet effectively reduced the patients’ body weight and led to the recovery of menstruation in these obese patients with ovulatory disorders

Seven-plus hours of daily sedentary time and the subsequent risk of breast cancer : Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study

This study aimed to investigate the association between daily sedentary time and the risk of breast cancer (BC) in a large Japanese population. The participants were 36,023 women aged 35–69 years from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for BC incidence in relation to time spent sedentarily (categorical variables: <7 and ≥7 hours/day [h/d]). Additionally, the associations of BC incidence to the joint effect of sedentary time with each component of physical activity, such as leisure-time metabolic equivalents (METs), frequency of leisure-time physical activity, and daily walking time, were examined. During 315,189 person-years of follow-up, 554 incident cases of BC were identified. When compared to participants who spent <7 h/d sedentary, those who spent ≥7 h/d sedentary have a significantly higher risk of BC (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.07–1.71). The corresponding HRs among participants who spent ≥7 h/d sedentary with more physical activity, such as ≥1 h/d for leisure-time METs, ≥3 days/week of leisure-time physical activity, and ≥1 h/d of daily walking were 1.58 (95% CI, 1.11–2.25), 1.77 (95% CI, 1.20–2.61), and 1.42 (95% CI, 1.10–1.83), respectively, compared with those who spent <7 h/d sedentary. This study found that spending ≥7 h/d of sedentary time is associated with the risk of BC. Neither leisure-time physical activity nor walking had a BC-preventive effect in those with ≥7 h/d of sedentary time

Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 comprises globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages

Generalist and specialist species differ in the breadth of their ecological niches. Little is known about the niche width of obligate human pathogens. Here we analyzed a global collection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 clinical isolates, the most geographically widespread cause of human tuberculosis. We show that lineage 4 comprises globally distributed and geographically restricted sublineages, suggesting a distinction between generalists and specialists. Population genomic analyses showed that, whereas the majority of human T cell epitopes were conserved in all sublineages, the proportion of variable epitopes was higher in generalists. Our data further support a European origin for the most common generalist sublineage. Hence, the global success of lineage 4 reflects distinct strategies adopted by different sublineages and the influence of human migration.We thank S. Lecher, S. Li and J. Zallet for technical support. Calculations were performed at the sciCORE scientific computing core facility at the University of Basel. This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 310030_166687 (S.G.) and 320030_153442 (M.E.) and Swiss HIV Cohort Study grant 740 to L.F.), the European Research Council (309540-EVODRTB to S.G.), TB-PAN-NET (FP7-223681 to S.N.), PathoNgenTrace projects (FP7-278864-2 to S.N.), SystemsX.ch (S.G.), the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF; S.N.), the Novartis Foundation (S.G.), the Natural Science Foundation of China (91631301 to Q.G.), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (5U01-AI069924-05) of the US National Institutes of Health (M.E.)

コウダイレンケイ ニ ヨル キョウイク コウリュウ ネットワーク ノ コウチク : コミュニケーション キョウイク ケンキュウカイ ノ カツドウ ト コミュニケーションリテラシー

高大連携校より本学への入学が決定した生徒を対象とした単位認定科目「コミュニケーションリテラシー」を開講した。同科目の内容やスケジュールは、平成19 年度よりほぼ月に一度のペースで高大連携協定校教員と本学教職員で構成する「コミュニケーション教育研究会」で調査研究・見学・参観・討議などを重ねて決定されたものである。この研究会の中ではまた、ブレインストーミングにより、経済産業省の「社会人基礎能力」を基本とした「職業を持った社会人に必要とされる能力要素」の洗い出しを行ない、これら要素の必要性や獲得度のアンケート調査を実施した。対象は高大連携校と全国の高校である。その結果、職業をもった社会人にもっとも必要とされる基本的な基礎能力は、「コミュニケーション能力」と「一般常識」であること、さらには「課題発見能力や企画・提案能力」や「表現力やプレゼンテーション能力」が不十分であるととらえられていることがわかった。こうした問題意識を踏まえて「コミュニケーションリテラシー」の実施内容を組み立てた。本年度の「コミュニケーションリテラシー」受講生は110 名となった。この効果を検証することは容易ではないが、受講生に対しアンケート調査などを行った結果に関しても報告する。Novel coordination program, namely, "Communication Literacy", consisting of 15 lesson classes, was developed and held for secondary school third grade students. This class was developed and implemented in a project set up with members from secondary school teachers and Shohoku College teachers and staff. Survey on basic vocational abilities necessary for the graduates was made by sending questionnaires to secondary school teachers. Questionnaires were made to students participated in the program to clarify the effect of the program

COMPOUND ANALYSIS VIA GRAPH KERNELS INCORPORATING CHIRALITY

High accuracy is paramount when predicting biochemical characteristics using Quantitative Structural-Property Relationships (QSPRs). Although existing graph-theoretic kernel methods combined with machine learning techniques are efficient for QSPR model construction, they cannot distinguish topologically identical chiral compounds which often exhibit different biological characteristics. In this paper, we propose a new method that extends the recently developed tree pattern graph kernel to accommodate stereoisomers. We show that Support Vector Regression (SVR) with a chiral graph kernel is useful for target property prediction by demonstrating its application to a set of human vitamin D receptor ligands currently under consideration for their potential anti-cancer effects

Comparative study of transgenic Brachypodium distachyon expressing sucrose:fructan 6-fructosyltransferases from wheat and timothy grass with different enzymatic properties

Fructans can act as cryoprotectants and contribute to freezing tolerance in plant species, such as in members of the grass subfamily Pooideae that includes Triticeae species and forage grasses. To elucidate the relationship of freezing tolerance, carbohydrate composition and degree of polymerization (DP) of fructans, we generated transgenic plants in the model grass species Brachypodium distachyon that expressed cDNAs for sucrose:fructan 6-fructosyltransferases (6-SFTs) with different enzymatic properties: one cDNA encoded PpFT1 from timothy grass (Phleum pratense), an enzyme that produces high-DP levans; a second cDNA encoded wft1 from wheat (Triticum aestivum), an enzyme that produces low-DP levans. Transgenic lines expressing PpFT1 and wft1 showed retarded growth; this effect was particularly notable in the PpFT1 transgenic lines. When grown at 22 A degrees C, both types of transgenic line showed little or no accumulation of fructans. However, after a cold treatment, wft1 transgenic plants accumulated fructans with DP = 3-40, whereas PpFT1 transgenic plants accumulated fructans with higher DPs (20 to the separation limit). The different compositions of the accumulated fructans in the two types of transgenic line were correlated with the differences in the enzymatic properties of the overexpressed 6-SFTs. Transgenic lines expressing PpFT1 accumulated greater amounts of mono- and disaccharides than wild type and wft1 expressing lines. Examination of leaf blades showed that after cold acclimation, PpFT1 overexpression increased tolerance to freezing; by contrast, the freezing tolerance of the wft1 expressing lines was the same as that of wild type plants. These results provide new insights into the relationship of the composition of water-soluble carbohydrates and the DP of fructans to freezing tolerance in plants